As Darren Brown explained in our introduction to the offseason, the Seattle Kraken face weighty questions this offseason.
What are the goals for on-ice competitiveness? How does the organization improve its execution once goals are selected? How can the team composition be changed to conform to the team’s goals? How are on-ice performance deficiencies addressed? How does the organization repair trust with the fanbase?
Decisions made on these and other issues this offseason will have significant consequences years into the future.
The Kraken approach the offseason with the assets to make changes
The Seattle Kraken enter the offseason with significant assets. When accounting for likely minor restricted free-agent deals, we can project the team with $76 million of 2026-27 commitments under the 2026-27 salary cap of $104 million. This leaves the team with $28 million in cap space despite relatively few glaring open roster spots.
Even beyond money, the Kraken’s asset stock is robust. (That is not to say those assets might not have been greater had the team charted a different path over the last 12 months, it’s just an existing fact.) The team has three picks in the top 40 of the 2026 NHL Draft and a top-10 prospect pool according to most analysts.
Seattle also has prime-aged, above-average veterans on reasonable, expiring contracts that would appeal to contending teams if made available. Vince Dunn and Jared McCann are the two names that come to mind first and foremost.
Seattle Kraken offseason objectives
From my vantage, the team’s offseason focus should not be on improving (or tanking) the total talent level of the 2026-27 roster—or at least that should not be the primary objective. Ideally, the Kraken would be guided by these five objectives instead:
Leverage lessons learned to implement front office improvements
Target external young talent in trades matching the core timeline
Create lineup opportunities for internal young talent, fostering competition
Maintain baseline competitiveness to foster culture, development, and medium-term success
Hold key draft and prospect assets unless inconsistent with the above
Let’s dig into each of these areas. I’ll also sprinkle in a few hypothetical offseason changes, trades, or signings that would, in my view, be indicative of a reasoned and successful offseason.
#1: Leverage lessons learned to implement front office improvements
The first and most essential building block of a successful offseason is the recognition of areas for improvement internally, from the top down. The organization needs to leverage lessons learned during the Ron Francis leadership era and incorporate new strategies and solutions from the team’s postseason review processes.
From the outside, we cannot speak with any authority regarding most deficiencies that may or may not exist within the organization or staffing of the front office.
That said, one evident priority is to identify the on-ice objective—the “direction,” so to speak—and then clearly communicate the objective within the office walls at Kraken Community Iceplex. The team has said as much. In highlighting areas of adjustment within the front office, Kraken general manager Jason Botterill said at his postseason press availability that “the way I operate with my staff is direct communication.” The Kraken will have “clear goals” going forward, Botterill said.
From there, the focus shifts to identifying and acquiring the core group of players necessary to achieve the objectives. That’s easier said than done, of course, but the team won’t have a chance without getting this first step right.
#2: Target external young talent in trades matching the core timeline
Put succinctly, my central offseason objective would be to refresh the forward and defense groups by adding at least one external young player to each group who fits a late-2020s window and brings more aging-curve and development upside to the core.
Could Sharks forward William Eklund be an offseason Kraken target? (Photo/Brian Liesse)
I considered at least three factors in settling on this core goal.
First was a clear-eyed assessment of the overall quality of the roster. From (good-natured, hopefully) jeers at Sound Of Hockey Fest before last season through an unpopular Olympic break prediction, I never viewed last year’s collection of talent as playoff caliber. A simple turn of the calendar is unlikely to change that fact because the roster remains, on balance, on the backside of the aging curve.
Second, I had to recognize that—despite its overall flaws—the roster does have a few young players who project as pieces of a winning core. These are players who should be strong performers and lynchpins of the team’s relationship with its fans. Matty Beniers tops the list. He may never be a point-per-game player, but he is a top-six center who can be trusted in all situations. Joey Daccord, while not immune from goalie inconsistencies, has shown over two seasons that he can be a 1A goaltender. Berkly Catton has shown that he has the makings of an on-ice playmaker and off-ice leader.
Equally important, there is a wave of younger players projected to arrive within a two-to-three-year time horizon, including Jake O’Brien, Julius Miettinen, Jani Nyman, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, Jagger Firkus, Ty Nelson, and Tyson Jugnauth. Not all will work out, but each could realistically contribute to varying degrees.
This suggests the ideal contention window for the team’s existing organizational players opens in the late 2020s. An all-out sale and rebuild—the course seemingly favored by some of the more disenchanted in the fanbase—would scuttle any prospect of leveraging this window.
Third, I reached a grim conclusion when evaluating the options for immediate star-level talent acquisition (and acceleration of the team’s timeline). No doubt, the Kraken have the money to pay a star salary. The problem is unrestricted free agency does not contain such a player.
The player at the top of the market, Alex Tuch, is more like a solid first-liner. Tuch may fit the team’s need for an interior scorer who is hard to play against. I’ve long been a fan of his and mentioned him often as a Kraken trade target last offseason. But he falls well short of the threshold this team needs to reform its current trajectory, and he is likely already in his decline phase.
Assuming Tuch actually comes available, is there a version of this offseason where signing Tuch makes sense? Perhaps, but building around a free-agent acquisition is not the best approach to this offseason given the state of the team.
Now, it is possible that a prime-aged player like Jordan Kyrou could be had in a trade. I’m skeptical, however, that leveraging future assets to make a Kyrou-level addition to the existing veteran core would yield the desired results. You’d improve your near-term playoff prospects but may dim the contention window in the late 2020s and beyond in the process.
There are players who fall into a different category though. Should Jason Robertson be available in trade talks, I would consider it. Timeline acceleration becomes a more realistic conversation when you’re talking about a top-20 forward in the league. Likewise, should any of the first-line centers who have been discussed as trade targets (Auston Matthews, Robert Thomas, and Nico Hischier) be available, they would also make me pause and consider pivoting strategies.
Jordan Eberle and Jason Robertson battle for puck at Climate Pledge Arena (Photo/Brian Liesse)
That said, it strikes me that these are still ill-fitting solutions to the problems this organization faces. Of course, I would want to understand the availability and cost of any of the prime-aged star players. In the abstract, though, pre-prime players (24 years old or younger) who can grow with the current young group are better fits in my view.
On the forward side, Mason McTavish is one of my favorite trade targets. He is far from a perfect player, but McTavish plays a power-forward style that would be a welcome complement to Seattle’s top six. Anaheim faces an offseason where it should ideally sign Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier to large, eight-year extensions. Add in five other forward contracts at or above $6.25 million AAV, and the Ducks are over-indexed on forward contracts. Since McTavish is an uncertain fit with the Ducks coaching staff (he was scratched at times), he could be an ascending player available for a palatable price. His deal has five years remaining at $7 million AAV, which would be no problem for Seattle with its cap status.
Elsewhere, could rumored deadline target Mackie Samoskevich be acquired in a deal built around a win-now piece for Florida, such as McCann? Matvei Mitchkov doesn’t check many of the boxes the Kraken need except for the most important one, generating offense; could Philadelphia be induced to move off him? What’s Cole Perfetti’s availability in Winnipeg? Could William Eklund be acquired from San Jose for a defenseman like Dunn now that the Sharks could land Ivar Stenberg at No. 2 overall in the draft? Taking a half step down, could forwards like Bradley Nadeau or Mavrik Bourque be crowded out of their team’s plans or cap structures? The list goes on.
On the blue line, I’d be inclined to make a strong offer to Buffalo for left defenseman Owen Power. If the Sabres are going to bring back free agent (and local boy) Tuch, they need to free up salary cap space, and the Sabres may be a bit over-indexed with talent on the back end. Power fits Seattle’s need for youth on the blue line, defensive production, and penalty-killing ability. He could form a capable top pair with Brandon Montour in the near term while Larsson moves into more of a second-pair workload. The cost would likely be steep, requiring multiple premium draft picks, a roster player like Ryker Evans, and a prospect. But acquiring an ascending, potential No. 1 defenseman would be worth it.
Otherwise, could the Kraken acquire Jordan Spence from Ottawa in a package built around McCann, a scoring forward who could help the Senators now? Would Anaheim part with Olen Zellweger or Pavel Mintyukov as an alternative path to breaking its logjam of young roster talent? What’s Simon Nemec’s current standing in New Jersey? (I’d ask even though I’m not as high on Nemec these days.)
These are the types of moves I’d be pursuing. If the Kraken acquired McTavish and Power in offseason trades, for example, they might not be better in the standings next season. But the vision for late-2020s competitiveness would be much clearer. This would be a win.
Is Mason McTavish available in a trade? (Photo/Brian Liesse)
#3: Create lineup opportunities for internal young talent, fostering competition
On the internal development front, my goal would be to preserve NHL lineup opportunities for at least one more young player beyond those who have already established themselves. This could be a third-pair defense role, but for the forwards, ideally it would be in the top nine.
The Kraken have flexible pieces up front, including Freddy Gaudreau and Ryan Winterton, and on defense, including Josh Mahura and Cale Fleury, who can move in and out of the lineup if young players don’t step up. This should give the team comfort in taking the “risk” of leaving roles available for camp competition.
From my vantage, this is important for internal culture and development as the team’s prospects begin to knock on the door. Could we see a third-line wing spot that cycles through a dozen games each from Jani Nyman, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, and Jagger Firkus over the first half of the season? Could the Kraken cycle a veteran and Ty Nelson, or perhaps Ville Ottavainen, through a third-pair right-shot defense role early in the season? I’d like to see that start to happen.
This means refraining from significant additions in free agency that would block these opportunities. I would be interested in a reunion with Bobby McMann. It would help with the next priority listed here. Such a move would need to be paired with the departure of one or more veteran forwards, however, to promote this objective.
Could McCann be traded to a team like the Detroit Red Wings for a player on the verge that would factor into this mix (Michael Brandsegg-Nygård) or another strong up-and-comer to add to the Coachella Valley roster (Carter Bear)? Kaapo Kakko is the other possibility.
#4: Maintain baseline competitiveness to foster culture, development, and medium-term success
Returning to a point highlighted above, I’d look to avoid taking a significant step back in overall competitiveness in the forthcoming season. This matters to the team’s internal culture. Once an organization grows comfortable with losing, that mindset can be hard to shake. It is also important to the development of the young players. Centers like Matty Beniers and Shane Wright benefit in their own progress from playing with skilled players who can think and skate with them.
A competitive roster also helps Seattle in the perception battle. A long drought would injure the team’s relationship with its fanbase and also its reputation around the league for future free agents.
Most importantly, though, preserving a baseline of competitiveness is essential to the team’s overall timeline to true contention.
Enhanced visual for qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Thanks to @SasquatchNHL for suggestion to indicate Stanley Cup Champs. pic.twitter.com/KUmXqnlnmL
John Barr has shown that true rebuilds take longer than you might think. If the team is stripping away mid-tier players like Wright, Kakko, or Evans for futures returns alone, those steps would actively harm, not help, the team’s competitive prospects in the rest of the 2020s.
#5: Hold key draft and prospect assets where possible
The final objective is a simple one: hold the assets that could actually make you a legitimate playoff contender in the late 2020s. By focusing on additions below the star tier, the Kraken should be able to keep their own first-round picks in the coming drafts, while still keeping Tampa Bay’s first-rounders in play. The team would also be able to hold onto young players like Berkly Catton, Jake O’Brien, Julius Miettinen, and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard.
If a game-changing acquisition is on the table, this priority could go by the wayside. Ideally, the Kraken would add young, external talent to their existing pool with the goal of peaking in two to three years.
* * *
What do you think the team’s priorities and best targets should be? Let us know in the comments below.
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
News has been trickling out for weeks about the upcoming PWHL expansion draft, which will stock the four new teams joining the league this offseason. Rather than walk through every rule and sub‑rule of the process, I’m focusing on how this could realistically play out for the Seattle Torrent.
Phase 1: Existing team protections & foundational signings
This is when existing teams submit their three-player protected lists for players already under contract for 2026-27. There is a wrinkle: a team can sign and protect a pending free agent from another roster. I don’t see Seattle using that maneuver, but another club absolutely could target one of the Torrent’s UFAs.
Of the Torrent players currently under contract for next season, and therefore eligible to be protected in this phase, the list includes Cayla Barnes, Lexie Adzija, Hannah Bilka, Jenna Buglioni, Mikyla Grant‑Mentis, Hannah Murphy, Corinne Schroeder, Danielle Serdachny, and Anna Wilgren.
My shortlist comes down to Barnes, Bilka, Murphy, and Serdachny. You can make a case for any combination of the four, and I am sure there are people projecting Schroeder to be protected. I am also assuming that the team does not sign one of their pending UFAs with the hope that they make it through the next phase of expansion and re-sign at a later date.
Bilka looked like one of Seattle’s best players pre‑Olympics before her season‑ending injury. Her nine points in 14 games don’t jump off the page, but she led the team in points per game over that stretch and could really drive play with the puck on her stick.
Serdachny brings a lot of speed to the Torrent’s game, and that can be used to exploit teams in a league with a wide talent range which will get even wider with the addition of the four additional teams. She stood out post‑Olympics as one of the best Torrent forwards and averaged 0.75 points per game.
Barnes was the Torrent’s defensive anchor, logging the most ice time and regularly matching against top lines while running the power play.
Murphy, at 22, split starts with Schroeder and posted a .908 save percentage compared to Schroeder’s .915. It’s not a huge gap, and there’s no question in my mind that Schroeder is the better goalie right now. But Murphy’s age and upside matter here, which is why she made my short list over Schroeder.
Seattle could sign and protect a pending UFA like Hillary Knight or Alex Carpenter, but if I’m the Torrent, I roll the dice and hope they’re still available after Phase 3 since neither of them are signed for next season.
I’ve gone back and forth, but my current protection trio is Bilka, Serdachny, and Murphy, which likely means Barnes and Schroeder get scooped up. I don’t feel great about it, but that’s the math.
Phase 2: Expansion team foundational signing period
Existing teams sit this one out, but it’s the phase where the Torrent could lose players, both UFAs and players under contract. UFAs like Knight, Carpenter, and Theresa Schafzahl could sign with expansion teams at this stage.
Seattle could also lose up to three players under contract, depending on who was protected in Phase 1. The likeliest names in play: Barnes, Bilka, Murphy, Schroeder, Serdachny, and I’d add Anna Wilgren as a real possibility.
Phase 3: Preliminary open signing period
Any unprotected, unsigned players on expiring contracts can now negotiate with all 12 teams. Existing teams also get to protect three additional players, regardless of contract status, though protecting someone you haven’t signed feels like a wasted slot.
This is the window where Seattle could re‑sign Carpenter, Knight, or Schafzahl if they’re still on the board. I think there’s a chance Wilgren survives to this phase, and if she does, she’s probably one of Seattle’s three additional protections.
Phase 4: Expansion signing period
Expansion teams now select from the remaining unprotected and unsigned players to fill out their rosters up to 10 players.
It’s hard to get a clean read on where Lexie Adzija, Jenna Buglioni, or Mikyla Grant‑Mentis sit in the leaguewide hierarchy, but it wouldn’t surprise me if at least one of them are taken here. Adzija and Grant-Mentis were good contributors for the Torrent, and Buglioni was a rookie, so a team might be willing to take a chance on her potential.
Phase 5: Existing team-exclusive re‑signing period
Existing teams can now re‑sign any of their own players who remain without a contract for 2026-27.
For Seattle, that list could be long. Beyond the big names (Carpenter, Knight, Schafzahl), the Torrent would likely want to bring back Aneta Tejralova, Emily Brown, and Megan Carter.
Phase 6: Open signing period
At this point, any unsigned player can sign with any of the 12 teams.
Anything could happen
I’ve seen some national chatter and a bit of local speculation, but I’ve tried to avoid diving too deep so I’m not subconsciously influenced by other projections. I’ll be wrong about some of this (probably several things), but the exercise is still worthwhile.
What is clear is that the Torrent roster is going to look dramatically different next season.
So now I’m curious: Who are you protecting? Who do you think the Torrent re-sign?
Welcome to “Down on the Farm,” your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. In this quick holiday weekend edition, we’ll get you up to date on a couple of Seattle Kraken prospects playing in the Memorial Cup, one signing his entry-level contract with the Seattle Kraken, and the season-ending loss for the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the Pacific Division Finals. We’ll return with a full Firebirds post-mortem and player-by-player breakdown as we move into offseason mode in the weeks ahead.
I’ve noted a few good questions from social media posts and recent columns that I plan to address in a mailbag-style column soon. If you have a Seattle Kraken prospect-related question you’d like to see featured, drop us a note below or on X or Bluesky at @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey.
Superlative Coachella Valley Firebirds season ends with loss to Colorado Eagles
In our season-preview piece for the 2025-26 Coachella Valley Firebirds, we noted that the team was significantly less experienced than prior squads and projected to be the youngest collection of players in the American Hockey League. With those facts in mind, we suggested that making the playoffs in any capacity should count as a successful season on the ice.
The Firebirds surpassed those expectations. Playing the full season with a lineup that, in fact, proved to be the AHL’s youngest — even after acquiring AHL veteran Cooper Marody — the Firebirds accrued 88 standings points. That earned Coachella Valley the No. 4 seed in the Pacific Division playoff structure and first-round home-ice advantage.
Of course, the Firebirds’ success did not end there. Coachella Valley defeated the Bakersfield Condors and the Ontario Reign, the Pacific Division’s top team, in playoff rounds one and two. By reaching the Pacific Division Finals, the Firebirds not only bested their postseason performance from last season, they also achieved rare success for a young team.
The Firebirds’ two postseason series wins are currently tied for the most among all AHL teams with above-average regular-season performances and younger-than-average rosters, matched only by the Chicago Wolves. (The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins could join those two if they prevail in the Atlantic Division Finals on Saturday, May 23.)
Through this prism, it’s difficult to allow the frustration of a blown 2–0 lead against the Colorado Eagles in Game 4 of the Pacific Division Finals to linger. The Firebirds dropped the series three games to one to the oldest team in the AHL (by far), and one with legitimate Calder Cup aspirations. (If history is any guide, the Eagles are a shoo-in. The Firebirds still have never lost in the postseason to any team other than the eventual Calder Cup winner.)
For now, a salute to the performance of the players, Coach Laxdal, and his staff is in order. The future remains bright in Palm Desert.
As mentioned, we’ll return with player-specific analysis in future editions. For current purposes, we’ll note that Nikke Kokko posted a .926 save percentage and a shutout last week, which earns him Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week honors.
Minted WHL Playoffs MVP, Miettinen leads Silvertips to the Memorial Cup
As documented last week, Julius Miettinen drove play for Everett throughout the WHL postseason, piling up points individually and wins for the Silvertips. Miettinen capped off his triumphant playoff run with a most valuable player award and a victory over the Prince Albert Raiders.
This performance earned Everett its first WHL Championship and punched its ticket to the Memorial Cup — a tournament pitting the champions of the CHL’s member leagues, plus the host team (this year, the Kelowna Rockets), against one another.
Cameron Riggers has your Everett preview here. The Silvertips take the ice for their first game tonight (Saturday, May 23) at 6:00 p.m. PDT. The full tournament schedule is as follows:
Fri, May 22 – Kitchener (5) vs. Kelowna (0), 6 p.m. PDT Sat, May 23 – Everett vs. Chicoutimi, 6 p.m. PDT Sun, May 24 – Kelowna vs. Chicoutimi, 6 p.m. PDT Mon, May 25 – Everett vs. Kitchener, 6 p.m. PDT Tue, May 26 – Chicoutimi vs. Kitchener, 6 p.m. PDT Wed, May 27 – Kelowna vs. Everett, 6 p.m. PDT Thu, May 28 – Tiebreaker, 6 p.m. PDT* Fri, May 29 – Semifinal, 6 p.m. PDT Sun, May 31 – Championship game, 4 p.m. PDT *if necessary
Alexis Bernier signs entry-level contract, reaches Memorial Cup
As we mentioned in a recent update, the Seattle Kraken faced a June 1, 2026, deadline to sign 2024 third-round pick Alexis Bernier, or the young blueliner would re-enter the 2026 NHL Draft. The Kraken beat that deadline, signing Bernier to a standard three-year entry-level contract on May 19, 2026.
What took so long in Bernier’s case? The defenseman suffered an ACL injury last season and got a late start to his 2025-26 campaign, first taking the ice for the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in late January. The team likely wanted to ensure Bernier was fully recovered and productive before committing to a deal. Bernier assuaged any concerns with a solid run of defensive production in the QMJHL.
Check out Bernier’s shifts from the Saguenéens’ QMJHL Championship-clinching win over the Moncton Wildcats on May 17, 2026:
Like Miettinen and the Silvertips, Bernier and the Saguenéens earned a spot in the Memorial Cup with their championship run. It just so happens their first game is against Everett on Saturday, May 23.
Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker
4 wins: Julius Miettinen, Jake O’Brien
3 wins: Jagger Firkus, Kim Saarinen, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard
Belchetz is an object of curiosity among scouts and amateur draftniks alike because he has the physical profile to be an imposing NHL power forward (6-foot-5, 227 pounds) and the scoring touch to match (34 goals for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires). He can use his frame to impact the game at junior speed; the question is whether he can raise his pace enough for that to become an asset professionally. If there is a player primed for a Beckett Sennecke-style rise high into the top 10 based on physical projection, it’s likely to be Belchetz or Wyatt Cullen. Belchetz was No. 8 on our midseason Big Board and is No. 9 among North American skaters on the final NHL Central Scouting list. He should go in the first half of the first round in June.
Header photo of Julius Miettinen taken byEvan Morud, courtesy of the Everett Silvertips.
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
After much hemming and hawing and retrospection, both from the Kraken and from our team here at Sound Of Hockey, we’re ready to put the 2025-26 team’s late-season downfall behind us and begin looking ahead at how Seattle can avoid such a collapse in the future.
The organization has promised a “prolific” offseason, so what will that look like? What are some of the biggest priorities the team needs to address?
In this introductory post, we’ll take a first look at some of the major questions facing the Kraken this summer before digging into each of these topics more in the coming months. Let’s dive in.
Audit underway
The Kraken raised eyebrows in the wake of their season when CEO Tod Leiweke mentioned in his “Ron Francis is leaving” presser that Seattle would bring in some sort of third party to conduct an audit of the team’s departments and processes. We learned more details about this process last week, with the team now having hired an organization called Sportsology, a New York-based outfit led by former Chelsea Football Club executive Mike Forde.
I do think this whole thing has gotten blown out of proportion—when Leiweke mentioned this, I don’t believe he expected various media outlets to emphasize it—but since it’s something people have been talking about, it’s good to see progress being made on this front. It does feel like many pieces of business will be put on hold until the audit is completed, so time is of the essence to get this done.
We were told that Sportsology will be looking at all areas of hockey operations, including organizational structure, roster construction, decision-making processes, and a whole host of other areas.
So, some good should come of this and lead to the meaningful change that the team has pledged, but I’m not convinced we’ll hear that much about the outcomes of the audit.
UFA decisions
Speaking of meaningful change, I’m most interested to see what adjustments general manager Jason Botterill can bring to the roster this offseason after a relatively quiet summer in 2025. At face value, there’s still no obvious quick fix to what ails the Kraken.
There are four key players whose contracts are expiring, so Botterill and the rest of the front office will first need to decide which of Bobby McMann, Eeli Tolvanen, Jaden Schwartz, and Jamie Oleksiak they want back next season and beyond… and whether those players want to return.
I would think the team wants to bring back McMann, who burst onto the Kraken scene with 10 goals in 18 games after being acquired at the NHL Trade Deadline from Toronto, and Eeli Tolvanen, who still has youth on his side and has shown the ability to play all roles.
But neither player is a no-doubter to be back in Seattle. McMann played himself into a hot commodity on a free-agent market that does not offer much scoring. He obviously fit well in Seattle and had lots of personal success here, but he also got a front-row seat to an embarrassing end-of-season spiral out of a playoff spot and into the draft lottery. How much will it cost the Kraken to bring him back, if he’s open to returning?
Tolvanen, meanwhile, did not have a good second half of the season and even found himself in healthy scratch territory at times late in the campaign. Still, coach Lane Lambert showed early on that he really liked Tolvanen and was comfortable using him in every situation. If the price is right, I’d bring Tolvanen back.
As for Schwartz and Oleksiak, I do feel it’s right to move on from these players. Both have been strong for the team at times during their respective five-year runs, but the Kraken need to start filtering out some of the Day 1 veterans who have been core to the organization’s very limited success. That’s not blaming these individual players, who are both still effective; it’s simply a desire to get some fresh faces onto the roster.
NHL Draft
It goes without saying that the Kraken will—of course—participate in the NHL Draft on June 26 and 27, where they will select seventh overall thanks to another disappointing bounce in the lottery. They do have a second first-round pick, No. 25 overall, acquired in the trade that sent Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Tampa Bay Lightning last year.
In all, the Kraken have eight picks. Based on their position, it is highly unlikely they will select a player who can help them immediately next season.
Find current talent
With several veterans likely on their way out, the Kraken will have some big holes in their lineup. Remember, a significant chunk of the roster was already occupied by young players this past season, with guys like Berkly Catton, Ryan Winterton, Jacob Melanson, and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard all playing significant roles for various stretches of the season. And let’s not forget that Matty Beniers and Shane Wright could still fall into the “young” category.
So, do they want to replace those departing vets with even more young players coming up from Coachella Valley? There aren’t obvious superstars waiting in the wings, so assuming the Kraken aren’t looking for a full-on tank next season, the answer to that question is almost certainly not.
Players will need to be brought in from outside the organization to improve this lineup, so where will they come from?
As mentioned, the free-agent market is thin. Sure, there could be a fit or two with players like Alex Tuch, who had 33 regular-season goals in Buffalo and had a strong first round of the playoffs but lost his scoring touch in the second round and ended up with four goals and three assists in 12 games. But beyond Tuch—who I’m not even sure will want to leave his hometown team after a magical season—there aren’t many intriguing players set to become available.
I’ve said for several years now that if the Kraken want to take real steps forward, they are going to have to make some big-time trades. That almost surely means moving out young players who are valued by the front office and the fanbase, and perhaps even some veterans with a year left on their deals. Players like Jared McCann and Vince Dunn feel like obvious candidates for trades, considering their contractual situations—both are set to expire after the 2026-27 season—and the fact that they would fetch quality players in return.
Even if Botterill can land a big fish via trade, somebody like Robert Thomas from St. Louis or Jason Robertson from Dallas, it still may not be enough to get this team back into the playoffs. Remember, there are multiple key players leaving the organization, so even if Seattle reels in a top-end offensive player—and that feels like a long shot—one move will not be enough to make this team a contender.
Plus, there will be more holes to fill beyond that one player, and acquiring multiple significant upgrades in one offseason—something this front office has struggled to do—is a huge ask.
The idea of a “prolific” offseason sounds all well and good, but the reality is that landing true upgrades is going to be a massive challenge. Will this front office be willing to part with important current players and/or some of its prospects and draft picks? Will Botterill be able to find trade partners for players whose tenures in their current cities have run their course?
These are the biggest questions facing the Kraken this offseason. Again, we will revisit each of these topics more in depth in future articles, so keep it tuned to Sound Of Hockey all offseason long.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Welcome to “Down on the Farm,” your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. In this week’s column, we’ll bring you on the ice in Coachella Valley, where Jake O’Brien made his professional debut this week. We’ll also get you up to date on Julius Miettinen’s dominant WHL playoff run, which has the Everett Silvertips on the verge of their first WHL Championship. We’ll also have notes and video from around the Kraken system and the Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week, as always.
If you have a Seattle Kraken prospect-related question you’d like to see featured in a future column or mailbag, drop us a note below or on X or BlueSky at @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey.
Jake O’Brien enters the Firebirds lineup in Game 1 of the Pacific Division Finals
With a dramatic 3–2 double-overtime win over the Ontario Reign on Saturday, the Coachella Valley Firebirds advanced to the Pacific Division Finals against the Colorado Eagles. This not only brought the Firebirds one step closer to the Calder Cup, but it also extended the team’s postseason by at least three games. That afforded the organization the opportunity to get Jake O’Brien into the lineup for Wednesday’s Game 1 against Colorado.
“It was a whirlwind losing in the [OHL] playoffs and then coming here. Getting in the lineup was pretty exciting,” O’Brien told the media after the game. O’Brien had his mother and stepfather in the stands watching him.
O’Brien skated more than 10 minutes in a fourth-line center role and on the second power-play unit. The Firebirds even threw him out there at the end of the game as the extra attacker with the goalie pulled. Check out all of his shifts in the video below.
Though the game was a disappointing 3–0 loss, the organization has to be pleased that O’Brien got a close look at professional game speed and strength. There were certainly times when he bounced off checks and fell behind the speed of play. But this eliminates some unknowns for O’Brien and lays out clear benchmarks he’ll need to hit in the offseason.
“It was very fast, very physical. It was kind of what I was expecting. I did a lot of video before, getting ready for this game. It was a lot faster than junior was for me,” O’Brien said. “I feel like I got better shift by shift. By Game 2, I’m going to be better.”
Overall, I thought the nerves were evident in his game, particularly early. He looked a bit mechanical and slow to process at first. But he went to the net front with regularity in the offensive zone, took the punishment, and it seemed like this got him into the game a bit. He tried a few skilled passes and controlled entries that you would expect from a talented offensive player. He had one opportunity to get a puck on net, but it sailed on him a bit in a contested situation.
“[O’Brien] is a very cerebral offensive player,” Firebirds coach Derek Laxdal said. “Here’s a kid who is 18 years old getting thrown into his first AHL game, and I thought he showed well. He didn’t shrink in the moment. He did a really good job of hanging onto the puck and making some plays. He’ll be better the next game he plays.”
Julius Miettinen is upping his play in the WHL Playoffs
2024 second-round pick Julius Miettinen leads the WHL Playoffs in total points (27) and points per game (1.59). Most impressively, he has 14 goals, which is the most in the WHL playoffs, two more than teammate Matias Vanhanen and five more than the next closest player.
His postseason run has pushed his combined regular-season and postseason total to 103 points in 69 games. He is one of only eight players to record more than 100 points, and his overall scoring rate (1.49 points per game) is higher than any player with more points than him.
This is a truly remarkable accomplishment for a player who has been thought to project as a support player in the professional ranks—contributing more to wins and losses than the stat sheet. If the development goal for this season was to push his offensive game to the next level, Miettinen checked that box.
What I’ve really liked in the postseason games I’ve been able to catch is the continued growth in his puck-possession ability. Miettinen’s first goal of the series came off a nice possession entry. If Miettinen can add that element to his game consistently, he has the look of a quality NHL power forward.
With four goals and five assists in four games since our last update, Miettinen is your Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the week.
The Everett Silvertips are now one win away from the team’s first-ever WHL Championship. Game 5 of the series is tonight (Friday) in Prince Albert:
Fri, May 15 – Everett at Prince Albert – 6:30 pm PDT – Art Hauser Centre Sun, May 17 – Prince Albert at Everett – 7:00 pm PDT – Angel of the Winds Arena* Mon, May 18 – Prince Albert at Everett – 7:00 pm PDT – Angel of the Winds Arena* *If necessary
Alexis Bernier and the Saguenéens battle in the QMJHL Finals
The Chicoutimi Saguenéens and Moncton Wildcats are tied at two games apiece in the best-of-7 QMJHL Finals. Bernier scored an improbable goal from deep in Leon Draisaitl’s office in Game 2, which the Saguenéens ultimately won by one goal.
Fri, May 15 – Chicoutimi at Moncton – 3:00 pm PDT – Centre Avenir Sun, May 17 – Moncton at Chicoutimi – 4:00 pm PDT – Centre Georges-Vézina Tue, May 19 – Chicoutimi at Moncton – 3:00 pm PDT – Centre Avenir* *If necessary
2026 NHL Draft long lists are starting to roll out
In the last week, Corey Pronman of The Athletic revealed his top 112 NHL Draft prospects list. Earlier in the process, NHL Central Scouting published its final list. Here at Sound Of Hockey we recently published our final data-only watchlist. Check out the full post if you haven’t, but here are 200 first-time eligible prospects to watch as we move toward draft day.
Notes on three other Kraken prospects
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)
Mølgaard leads the AHL playoffs in goals (six) and points (10). Similar to our observation of Miettinen’s game, most believe Mølgaard projects as a low-scoring, two-way presence. The scoring is a great thing to see as Mølgaard attempts to climb the last (and most difficult) rung of the development ladder.
J.R. Avon | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)
Last week’s Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week selection was a bit ahead of its time. J.R. Avon had the dramatic winner in double overtime last Saturday. His five playoff goals are second only to Mølgaard’s in the entire AHL. His finishing skill gives him the added dimension necessary to break through and eventually play NHL games.
— x – Coachella Valley Firebirds (@Firebirds) May 10, 2026
Jani Nyman | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)
Among players under 23 years old in the AHL playoffs, Jani Nyman is second in total scoring, and Jagger Firkus is tied for third. Nyman’s season was disappointing at the NHL level, but it is important to note that his effort level and production did not sag after his return to the AHL. His 24 total goals across the AHL regular season and postseason rank seventh among all players under 23 years old, and he has played only 48 AHL games this year. The scoring ability is still there.
Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker
4 wins: Julius Miettinen, Jake O’Brien
3 wins: Jagger Firkus, Kim Saarinen, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard
Wyatt Cullen has been a steady riser throughout this draft season. The 6-foot-1 winger was the leading scorer for the U.S. National Team Development Program’s U18 team this season, and he led all players with 1.8 points per game at the 2026 U18 World Championship. Cullen was No. 38 on the midseason Big Board but has ascended since then and is now No. 13 among North American skaters on the final NHL Central Scouting list. He could go as high as the top 10 in June.
Header photo of Julius Miettinen taken byEvan Morud, courtesy of the Everett Silvertips.
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
Welcome to our annual data-driven analysis of the top prospects in the 2026 NHL Draft. We’re digging deep, giving you a watchlist of 200 first-time eligible and 100 re-entry skaters to follow as the draft approaches.
What is the data-only watchlist?
The watchlist is not a traditional scouting assessment of prospects. Instead, as in years past, we built our watchlist using public, quantifiable data only. Think of it as a supplement to the scouting and analytical work on prospects being published by other sources like Elite Prospects or NHL Central Scouting.
The watchlist can be revealing in its areas of agreement or disagreement with the work of traditional scouting services. But it is not a replacement for the valuable work of scouts. There may be reasons to prefer a prospect listed lower on the watchlist over one listed higher. Indeed, I have formed some of my own subjective preferences. I may have the opportunity to return to some of those assessments as the draft season progresses, but those preferences are not reflected here.
This is a skater-only list for now—though it remains a priority to revisit and develop a satisfactory method to integrate goalies.
The “Data Score” approach
What does our data-only analysis involve? As I have done in years past when looking at NHL Draft prospects (or NHL-affiliated prospects), I have organized this player list by “Data Score”—a rough metric we came up with here at Sound Of Hockey. This season’s approach includes new steps that I believe will be valuable in helping identify top players.
Data Score begins with the bedrock of an NHL equivalency (“NHLe”). NHLe is a method for comparing the scoring proficiency of players in the various professional and junior leagues across the globe. I used Thibaud Chatel’s model, which is the most up-to-date public research in the area. Check out Chatel’s Substack for an in-depth discussion of NHLe. For this project, I used Chatel’s newest model, which has been updated to account for 2025-26 season data.
From there, as before, I make adjustments based on factors known to be linked to prospect success rates: (1) position, (2) height, (3) age, and (4) re-draft status. I also make a modest upward adjustment to the NHLe for low-scoring draft-eligible players playing in high-level professional leagues. (This is based on public research by Chace McCallum that was taken down when he started working for an NHL team.)
What’s new this year? In contrast with years past, when I looked at only a one-year sample to create this list, this time I applied this NHLe to multiple years of scoring data for these prospects—specifically the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. More recent play is given more weight. I believe this is an important upgrade to the approach.
I also adjusted the underlying point-rate totals used in the process to give less weight to assists relative to goals. This is based on public research suggesting goal scoring is more predictive of future point production than assist totals, even primary assists.
The full watchlist, which will be made available to Sound Of Hockey Patreon members shortly, covers approximately 12,000 skaters.
The 2026 NHL Draft watchlist
Most notable to me is just how much agreement you can find between scouting assessments and “Data Score.” If I presented the top 32 as a first-round scouting rank, it would raise questions—but perhaps not as many as you might think.
Beyond that, the most notable thing is that Data Score sees two elite players at the top of the 2026 NHL Draft: Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg. Despite being older draft-eligible prospects with only adequate height, their scoring production puts them in a different tier.
They arrived at this tier in two different ways, though. Gavin McKenna reached an elite level earlier (2.3 points per CHL game in 2024-25) and essentially maintained his production against elevated NCAA competition (1.4 points per NCAA game in 2025-26). Ivar Stenberg was quite good in the lower junior leagues in 2024-25, but his arrow pointed up in a big way in his draft season when he posted almost 0.8 points per game in the SHL. This is the third-most ever by a draft-eligible SHL prospect and the best single statistical season in the two-year sample I assembled for this project.
There is a bit of a gap after the top two prospects. Players like Porter Martone or Jake O’Brien from the 2025 NHL Draft would have been clear-cut second-tier prospects if they were eligible this season. Instead, defensemen Chase Reid and Carson Carels are the next players on the list. In an average-or-better draft, Reid and Carels may be closer to top-10 prospects than top-five candidates, but both bring strong offensive profiles that project to first-pair NHL futures.
Keep an eye on Nikita Klepov and J.P. Hurlbert as two forwards who could be selected higher than we might think—in the mold of Ben Kindel in the 2025 NHL Draft. As was the case with Kindel, it only takes one team to make a bet on their strong junior scoring profiles.
Wyatt Cullen and Ethan Belchetz are two bigger forwards who could make a push toward the top of the 2026 NHL Draft as well. They bring strong physical traits and “good-enough” data to forge a top-10 consensus in a draft room.
At the other end of the spectrum, if there is one player in the top 10 of the watchlist I’d suspect will linger toward the end of Round 1 (or later), it would be Ryan Roobroeck. Despite being strong overall, his equivalency is actually trending in the wrong direction while scouts question his engagement and consistency.
Evan Jardine is a USHL forward who likely won’t be drafted until the later rounds, but will probably score as a college player next season, and everyone will question how he slipped through the cracks. (In other words, Jardine could be this year’s version of Ethan Wyttenbach, who was No. 11 on last year’s watchlist but lingered until pick No. 144 in the 2025 NHL Draft before going on to post huge scoring numbers in college.)
Undersized, offense-first defensemen top the re-draft pool. Jonas Woo, Tomas Galvas, and Oliwer Sjöström all have strong arguments to be late-round flyers. Everett Silvertip Matias Vanhanen (who is a very young re-draft player) has a strong chance to be one of the first re-entry candidates off the board.
Season trends relative to the preseason list
When comparing with our preseason list, we see significant consistency at the top. 18 of the top 32 players on our final list were also ranked within the top 32 before the season began. Almost all the rest were listed in the second- to third-round range: 31 of the 32 skaters ranked within the top 82 of our preseason list. Only QMJHL blueliner Tommy Bleyl played himself into first-round consideration from a more obscure preseason position.
We did see a few players experience significant falls from our preseason list, however, due to underwhelming draft seasons. Olivers Murnieks is a notable example. He stood at No. 7 on our preseason list but fell to No. 86 among first-eligible skaters on our final list.
Revisiting the 2025 NHL Draft data-only watchlist
How much can you learn about likely draft projection from a player’s placement on the watchlist? As you might expect, it’s not perfect. There are players that scouts “like” (or “dislike”) for reasons other than the quantifiable factors included in Data Score.
That said, it is again remarkable how much you can predict based on public data alone. Looking back at the top 32 first-time eligible prospects on our 2025 data-only watchlist, 23 went in the first round, five more went in the second or third round, and all 32 were drafted.
Other watchlist takeaways and local connections
The run of top prospects playing junior hockey in the Pacific Northwest has not broken yet. No. 33-ranked Mathis Preston played for the Spokane Chiefs and Vancouver Giants this season. No. 52-ranked Chase Harrington played for the Chiefs as well. No. 12-ranked defenseman Ryan Lin played for the Giants, and No. 3-ranked defenseman Carson Carels played for the Prince George Cougars. Everett’s Vanhanen may be the first Puget Sound-area player selected.
Looking at the league landscape, seven of our top-32 first-time eligible prospects played their draft seasons in the OHL, the most of any league. The WHL and USHL were tied for second with six such prospects each. After that, the NCAA had four players, and the QMJHL had three.
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Do you have any questions? Reach out to us in the comments below or on Twitter/X @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey or on BlueSky at @deepseahockey or @soundofhockey.com.
Header photo of J.P. Hurlbert taken byEvan Morud, courtesy of the Everett Silvertips.
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
